This invention relates to a protective sheath for a needle of a syringe, to a syringe for use with the protective sheath and to a combination of a syringe and a protective sheath for the needle of the syringe.
Throughout this specification, the term "syringe" shall be taken to include hypodermic syringes and other devices incorporating a needle for injection of fluid into, or extraction of fluid from, a body.
With conventional syringes, the syringe needle remains exposed after use and may cause injury or transmit infection. With a view to overcoming this problem, there have been proposals for syringes in which the syringe needle is retractable after use into the body of the syringe to isolate the needle and thereby avoid contamination and injury.
The present invention seeks to provide an alternative arrangement for isolating a syringe needle to avoid contamination and injury.